


Lazarus

by crazygreatwords (SamWithACrown)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, escape the night - Fandom
Genre: (Mat and Ro are siblings), Gen, Siblings AU, actual characters AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 15:31:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15416034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamWithACrown/pseuds/crazygreatwords
Summary: Mat is back, but something is off





	Lazarus

**Author's Note:**

> Actual characters AU, so actual deaths too. Plus Mat and Ro are siblings because I really like this AU.

Something was wrong with her brother. Since the moment he returned, something was off. This Mat that the Harp brought back was slightly too smiley, slightly too empty. She didn't think the others noticed, they hadn't spent as much time together as the two of them had. 

But she was sure that the Mat that returned wasn't the same that had died earlier in the night.

\-----

"What's wrong?" They were all still recovering from Colleen 's death, a small pause between an artifact and another. Safiya had approached her and the two were now sitting at a table.  


"Except the fact that we just killed Colleen and brought back my brother from the dead?" Answered Ro, forcing a smile.  


"You should be happy that he's back, and yet you're here all alone."  


Safiya, always so observant. Ro looked up to her again. She looked really concerned about her, and that small thing was almost enough to make her break down and cry.  


But she couldn't, not now, not tonight. So she just pressed her hands against her eyes and kept it together.  


"There's something... off... with him."  


Safiya looked at where Mat was. The others were filling him in on what happened with the Twin Dolls and with the Maiden of Madness. He didn't looked too fazed at the description of Colleen 's death.  


"Are you sure?" She asked, her attention back to Ro.  


The smaller girl nodded: "He smiles too much, Mat wouldn't smile so much in a situation like this. And he would be angry at how we handled-" a half sob "how we handled the Maiden. He would have probably found a smarter solution, without having to kill her. He just feels..." Ro slightly turned her head towards the group, like she almost didn't want them to see her watching. Didn't want _Mat_ to see her.  


"He just feels wrong and empty and _not like my brother_ " she looked at Safiya again.  


The other woman nodded, her expression serious and calculating.  


"I trust you." She said, finally. "You know him way better than any of us, and I'm sure you would know if something were to happen to him. I'll keep an eye out."  


She took Ro's hands into hers, giving them a reassuring squeeze.  


"You're going to be fine, okay? I'll do everything I can to make sure of that."  


Ro choked down another sob, her eyes slightly wet.  


"Thank you"

\-----  


Another artifact, another monster. Another challenge.  


Another victim.  


Nikita's body was there, in front of them, the white straightjacket dyed with red spots. Manny was holding the just-cleansed artifact, the dust from the disappearing monster having yet to settle.  


Ro turned her head from the scene, Safiya immediately getting an arm around her as to protect her from the horrible sight.  


"Let's get this with the others." Said Joey, turning to leave the fun house as quickly as possible. The mirrors around them kept repeating Nikita's dead form over and over, and he didn't know where to look to avoid yet another of his friends' corpse.  


"Yeah, let's." Repeated Manny, following Joey outside.  


Safiya turned to follow the two men outside, slightly pushing Ro in front of her.  


She had already taken a couple of steps when she noticed that the last member of their always smaller group wasn't following.  


"Mat, you're coming?"  


The man was still staring at Nikita's lifeless body, a strange look on his eyes. She couldn't tell well from where he had his back tuned but he almost looked like he was... smiling? He seemed fascinated by the dead body in front of him.  


Ro's words came back to her. _this is wrong this is wrong this is wrong_  


"Mat!"  


He jumped, surprised. He turned around to face her, his expression neutral. His eyes were covered by his glasses, but even from where she was they looked lifeless. _Like he never really came back,_ she thought.  


"We're going." Safiya said, moving her head towards the exit.  


Mat nodded, then he walked out of the tent.  


Safiya observed him moving towards the arcade before following him.

\----

"You must now choose a partner to help you complete the challenge"  


Calliope put away her tarots, the votes having already been cast.  


Each of them had voted for themselves, the group had grown too tight for anyone to feel comfortable to vote someone else in. So Ro really had only fate to blame for her card getting drawn first. Tears were silently running down her cheeks, and she dried them with the sleeve of her coat. She looked around.  


There were only few of them left, all looking expecting at her for her to make her choice. Manny was the one she would have to fight against, so that left her to choose between Joey, Safiya, and.  


Mat.  


She knew that they most surely thought she would pick him. He was her brother, and he was smart and quick thinking and all around a great problem solver. Or better, he had been. She didn't know if Manny or Joey had noticed, but since his... return, Mat hadn't been as useful or cooperative as before. Ro had even wondered if he had actively sabotaged some of their puzzles (that gear wasn't there the first time she checked under the bed, she was _sure_ ). She couldn't trust him with her life.  


She tore her eyes from her brother (that empty look didn't fit him, and it made her feel sick) and instead locked gaze with Safiya.  


The other woman gave her a small nod. _I'm here, I will protect you. I promised you this._  


Ro called out her name.  


Then Manny called Mat, and Ro knew that he wasn't going to survive this challenge.

\-----  


Mat once again disassembled his puzzle only to put it back together, again identical as it was before. And yet, instead of proceeding, he took apart the pieces one more time.  


Ro was sure that no one else could see what he was doing, with him being crouched behind his machine. But from here she was, sitting in the clear part of Safiya’s machine, where the popcorn would be if this wasn't a diabolical trap to purify an artifact, she could see him messing with his pieces. When he saw that Safiya had solved yet another part of the machine (letting a puff of colorful smoke, pastel blue this time, come out from the pipes on top), he finally decided that he was bored of that puzzle and moved to another. Manny let out a cry of joy at that, thinking that Mat had just now solved the puzzle.  


Ro could only watch in horror as Mat proceeded to solve the next puzzle, only to repeat the same procedure he had done with all the others: take the puzzle apart, inspect every single piece, then put everything back together. Repeat.  


Ro was pretty sure that Mat would have solved the whole machine by now, letting Manny live and her get turned into treats for monsters. She didn't know if she was happy for that or not.

\-----

When Safiya finally finished (the girl was smart, but Mat was used to puzzles), Ro jumped out as Manny 's machine turned on, letting popcorn and red cotton candy fill all the glass case as his screams faded out. Safiya once again let her find comfort between her arms, the smaller girl sobbing against her chest. She glared at Mat, who was standing at the other side of the machines, staring in awe at the red treats that once were their friend. 

\-----  


They came back to the arcade, Safiya holding the artifact in one hand and with the other arm gently guiding Ro, whose sobs had calmed during their journey there. Mat was following behind them.  


Joey must have been waiting for them at the window, because he came out from the door running, only to stop on the porch. Calliope and Mortimer were behind him, and all three moved to let them pass. Joey went to hug Ro too, Safiya letting her go to place the artifact with the others.  


She turned around only to see Mat still standing at the door, looking around like nothing had ever happened.  


Like he hadn't just let one of their friends die.  


Beacuse she knew. She knew that she was smart, but she also knew that Mat was _smarter_. They all had all seen him solve puzzles quickly before his death, and she knew that she wouldn't have been any match for him in a normal situation. But this wasn't a normal situation, and whoever was in front of her right now wasn't the Mat that they had come to known during the evening at the carnival, before everything went to hell.  


Mat had let Manny die, on purpose.  


"Why did you do that?" She asked. He finally seemed to look at something, instead of letting his gaze wonder around without letting it focus on anything. And so she found herself under scrutiny of two lifeless eyes.  


"Do what?"  


Now Joey and Ro had entered the secret lounge too, and were watching her finally confront the problem.  


"You let Manny die."  


He blinked a couple of times, slowly, as to process what he had just heard.  


"Did I?"  


"Yes. Yes you did."  


He shrugged, leaning slightly against the sofa and lazily playing with a loose tread, his attention now focused on his hand's movement.  


"Mat. You actively sabotaged yourself. I saw you solving each puzzle multiple times." Safiya stated, her voice still calm and collected but very cold.  


She saw Joey look at Ro in the corner, as to ask confirmation, and at Ro's nod she saw him passing from surprised to really angry.  


"You did _what_?!" He exclamed, stomping towards the other man.  


Mat turned around to face him. He stared at him for what seemed an eternity before answering.  


"It was him or Ro. And I would never let Ro die, would I?" But he delivered it without any sentiment behind it, and that made it seem more like a request for confirmation that yes, saving Ro would be something Mat would do, _am I imitating him right?_. There was the strong impression that there was something that was trying, _and failing_ , to behave like Mat would have.  


The thing tried to smile to Joey, as if to reassure him, but paired with the empty eyes it simply gave off even more _wrong_ vibes, making Joey step back from the surprise and the disgust.  


"We all know very well that wasn't the reason you let Manny die." Said Safiya, crossing her arms and tilting her head slightly up.  


The thing reflected a moment, then it finally decided to drop the act.  


It tilted back its head, laughing, and even if it was Mat's voice that came out from its mouth, that laugh wasn't the warm one that they knew. Instead, this was something completely insane and a strong contrast from both Mat's behavior before his death and the empty copy that the thing was doing before.  


When it opened its eyes again they weren't the lifeless glass that they were before, but something red and obscure was swirling in them.  


"Oh man, I thought you would never notice. And you're supposed to be the best of the group? The ones that survived 'till now?" The thing grinned, and Safiya felt chills running up her back. If she knew that thing wasn't Mat before, now she was sure that it wasn't even human.  


"Well, you can't be, if you decided to vote _me_ into a challenge, instead of Mr. Traitor" and he pointed at Joey "over here."  


Ro had started crying again, and Joey was taken back by the comment, the guilt getting to him.  


"Give us back Mat." Safiya reclaimed.  


"Oh but I _am_ Mat." The thing did a turn around, stopping again in front of Safiya, "just that _you_ , _all of you_ , decided to kill me. And then to bring me back. As if I was just something that you can throw away and then take back when you need it. But no, oh no, not anymore." It opened its arms and continued, in a louder voice, addressing all the room. "The Carnival Master showed me! He showed me what I could be! No more betraying, no more lies!" He turned to Joey, who put himself between it and Ro "No more being used to save some selfish life!"  


The thing laughed again. "You're all doomed anyway! You'll never be able to save this city, you're too late! And little Joey here will lose another set of friends, and his own life too! And no returns this time! The Master made sure of that!" He giggled.  


"And even if you still want to try and stop him, you'll never be able to. Look at you! You're so few, just three people with artifacts still to find, and barely an hour till sunrise!"  


"We only have one artifact left." Said Safiya, looking at the wall with all the objects.  


The thing grinned.  


"Oh, you fools."  


It went to the Box of Lazarus, which was sitting on a table behind the couch, the tabletop just peeking out of the cushions. The thing let it's arms rest on top of the Box.  


"When trying to change the rules of nature, you created a monster," it opened the Box, tilting slightly forward.  


"And while doing so you forgot to keep an eye on his artifact"  


The inside of the Box was empty, the Harp nowhere to be found.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry Nikita and Manny, I don't hate you, in fact I love you two, I just love the others more (and Joey can't die until the finale I guess, otherwise the Savant could have died during episode one for what I care) (Joey I love you but I deeply hate your character sorry)
> 
> If they don't bring back Mat with the Lazarus Box then they wasted it. And please don't let it be a trick to the resurrection. 
> 
> Beta-ed by @margarita-is-the-answer on tumblr


End file.
